Thursday, November 21, 2013

I always look forward to each
changing season. It is such a beautiful process as each season brings forth it
own set of moods, feelings and memories of all the same season from the past. I
think I look forward to them all nearly equally with perhaps spring and fall
being my favorites.

In the spring I look forward to
those first warm sunny days when you get that timeless irresistible desire to
get outside and enjoy the feel of the warming sun on your face.

Our area is very special because we
live in the last climate zone that in my opinion has a true four season change.
We have the advantage of having more days of the year that are comfortably warm
than our neighbors further north and more distinct falls and winters than our
neighbors to the south. Once you get south of Birmingham the fall color is
less, much in part due to the lessening hardwood forests which dwindle as you
move south, but also the warmer temperatures don't trigger the wonderful color
in fall like we have here. We get cold weather and some snow too. From someone
who lived much of my life much further north, I can say our seasons go through
an equal change in look but we have the advantage of warmer annual temperatures
and more warm days in both spring and fall and in winter too. I prefer living in a climate
with four distinct seasons, like ours. Much of my enjoyment each year revolves
around the climate changes and the changes in look and feel that each seasonal
change evokes.

This time of year as fall foliage
begins to fall to the ground and temperatures drop I start getting in the
Thanksgiving and Christmas feeling. The thoughts of family times, laughing,
good conversations and plenty of food and holiday music always trigger
wonderful thoughts of Thanksgivings and Christmas’s of our past.

…so from our house to yours, I wish
all of you a blessed and joyous holiday season. Have fun, be safe and eat well.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

The
Southeast Tourism Society is the largest regional tourism organization covering
our 12 southeastern states. They are well known nationally and internationally
and are considered one of the best tourism organizations in the world. STS is a
leader in Governmental affairs as they relate to the tourism industry and they
are the nationwide leader in providing educational services to those of us in
the tourism industry. They have a spring and fall symposium each year. These
three day seminars are held at various destinations within STS’s twelve state
geography. This year our Fall Forum was in Jacksonville, Florida at the Omni
Hotel. As is the case with most of their events there were from 125 to 175
tourism professionals from all over the twelve state STS region who came to
learn the newest information that guides us all toward staying current on the
latest ways to manage our organizations and the newest methods to market our
destinations. In this rapidly changing business and technology environment
those who stay current with how their potential visitors get their information
provide a definite advantage in making sure their potential visitor will be
exposed to their destination using whatever technology is the most popular at
the moment. In less than two years more than 50% of vacation planning is done
on a smart phone or a tablet. Five years ago that number was near zero. In
addition, people are making reservations and making last minute changes to
where they are going, as they travel using handheld wireless technology. It is
critical to have a mobile ready website or App for viewers to use or we potentially
lose out. DeKalb Tourism has been mobile ready for several years now and visitation
to our mobile website is increasing monthly as traditional website views has
leveled out. It has only been about 15
years that people have been using the internet to plan their travel, prior to
that the age old newspaper and magazine ads, printed travel guides and trade
shows were the standard method to deliver your destination information. Then
came radio and TV and now all of these means are used but as more and more
potential visitors use electronic information, we as destination marketing
organizations prioritize our advertising budgets to use more web ads, social
media, electronic newsletters and mobile friendly websites. STS brings to their
conference the top speakers who are best educated in particular applications
that untimely influence everyone attending. Last week in Jacksonville we had a
host of professional speakers that coached and helped develop our skills at
learning how to use all of the electronic applications to our advantage,
including how to measure the data and how to change our strategy to better
target our potential visitor. We can now seek out our potential visitor just by
matching their interest sets to our offerings. This is amazing stuff. We no
longer have to mail out a generic untargeted flyer and hope to get a few
interested in our destination. Now we can figure out a pool of people who like
to do the things our area offers and then we find places and methods to
advertise where they are mostly likely to see it.

Southeast
Tourism Society hosts its annual Marketing College in Dahlonega, Georgia each
year at North Georgia College and University. This is a three year certified
program to educate tourism professionals with a diploma specific to the travel
industry. Kayla Worthey, our Marketing Manger and I have attended Marketing
College and received our Travel Marketing Professional diploma.

About Me

Lookout Mountain Alabama & DeKalb County are full of many delightful surprises, all waiting to be discovered. It is a place to enjoy the sights and sounds of all four seasons. Springtime brings a renewal to the mountainous terrain as first the Redbud and Dogwood announce their arrival in a showy display of purple and white flowers. Then the hills come to life with blooms of pink and fuschia colored Rhododendron. Mountain Laurel and Wild Azalea blossoms adorn her side. Summer brings children squealing with delight as they frolic and play at the many summer camps in Mentone. Autumn on Lookout Mountain is gloriously adorned in her beautiful array of fall colors. Scenic drives beckon you along the Lookout Mountain Parkway, through Desoto State Park & Little River Canyon & across Sand Mountain to DeKalb County Public Fishing Lake, High Falls Park & Buck's Pocket State Park. Winter drifts in as downtown shoppers get ready for Christmas and the novice and those eager to learn hone their skills at Cloudmont Ski & Golf Resort. Beautiful scenery is yours to enjoy as you visit the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in DeKalb County, Alabama.